SOUL-SICK CHARM: Simon Baker stars as a fake psychic on The Mentalist.

Hollywood writers are no longer walking picket lines, but their 14-week shutdown of TV production reverberates through the 2008-’09 fall season. The strike, which lasted from November 5, 2007, to February 12, 2008, disrupted the fall pilot-shooting season, and the networks are still playing catch-up. New fall series are traditionally unveiled to advertisers in May and TV critics in July, but not this year. In fact, critics have yet to see pilot episodes of many of the new shows. So when it comes to recommending which newcomers are worth the time, your guess is as good as mine.

ABC
There are only two new shows on ABC’s fall slate, and one of them is a heartwarming family game show (OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS, Tuesdays at 8 pm; starts September 23). The other is a touch more intriguing. David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, The Practice) has remade the endearingly odd BBC crime-drama/sci-fi series LIFE ON MARS (Thursdays at 10 pm; October 9), in which a cop gets hit by a car in 2008 and wakes up, still on the force, in 1973. The original version (seen on BBC America) was a retro delight, from the ’70s stylings to the prickly interplay between enlightened modern detective Sam Tyler and pre-PC commanding officer Gene Hunt. ABC’s version does have one big selling point, however: Harvey Keitel as Hunt. “Bad Lieutenant” indeed.

CBS
The big news for CBS is not a new show but a new leading man: Laurence Fishburne succeeds the departing William L. Petersen on CSI (Thursdays at 9 pm; October 9).

I was able to see rough versions of some of CBS’s pilots. WORST WEEK (Mondays at 9:30 pm; September 22) is a remake of the British sit-com chronicling the humiliating misadventures of a well-meaning shlub as he prepares to marry his pregnant fiancée. It’s excruciatingly awkward comedy of Meet the Parents proportions. The most promising show on CBS’s fall slate is THE MENTALIST (Tuesdays at 9 pm; September 23), which stars Simon Baker as a phony psychic who helps the “California Bureau of Investigation” solve difficult cases. As he did in the underrated series The Guardian, Baker plays a flawed, charming, soul-sick character with great subtlety. The sit-com GARY UNMARRIED (Wednesdays at 8:30 pm; September 24) stars Jay Mohr as a newly divorced dad floundering in the dating pool. THE EX-LIST (Fridays at 9 pm; October 3), starring Elizabeth Reaser (Grey’s Anatomy), is a romantic comedy drama about a woman who revisits her old boyfriends after a palm reader proclaims that one of them is the man she’s destined to marry, but only if she weds within the year — if not, she’ll stay single forever. Any woman who forces her boyfriend to watch this show will suffer the same fate. British actor Rufus Sewell plays a biophysicist consulting for the FBI on crimes involving science in the drama ELEVENTH HOUR (Thursdays at 10 pm; October 9). CBS is still working on this one at the 11th hour; the original pilot has been scrapped.

New + old classics As if freshly presenting stage classics isn’t challenging enough, new adaptations are in the lineups this fall at two companies, Trinity Repertory Company and the Gamm.

Winners and sinners Ah, fall, when Nobel Prize winners are announced — and, now, when past winners turn up with more good reading.

Fall on the boards There are tours to the former Czechoslovakia, Romania, Italy, Iraq, the Aran Islands, and even the Underworld on area stages this fall.

Water wars Elizabeth Royte’s new book, Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It , is a frank reminder of just how ubiquitous bottled water has become.

Reading roundup This fall’s regional literary scene will see abstinence and desire, ghosts and dykes, convicts and Christians, toxic water bottles and yummy food.

Slideshow: Contemporary animation in Providence Next week in Providence, two unrelated but complimentary events combine to create one of the finest showcases of contemporary animation that you’ll probably find anywhere in North America this year. And it’s all free.

Dance in fall This fall’s offerings of dance performances have an international flavor, as well as featuring the talents of Rhody-grown dance groups.

New beginnings Step into any classical music rehearsal space right now and you can almost taste the excitement.

Russian, Spanish, American . . . What everyone is looking forward to this fall is the return to the podium of Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine.

Autumn leaves One of the great harbingers of fall jazz for the past seven years has been the Beantown Jazz Festival.

Basic elements Boston was a world-music stronghold even before the “world music” genre existed.

REVIEW: KEITH RICHARDS'S LIFE | November 09, 2010 The title says it all: Life isn't just an autobiography, it's Keith Richards's Guide to Good Living.

NOTHING BEATS NOTHING | March 02, 2010 Jerry Seinfeld held out on a Seinfeld reunion till last year, when he finally found a way to do a comeback that wasn't really a comeback. He and Seinfeld co-creator Larry David resurrected the greatest sit-com of the '90s as a show-within-a-show on David's Curb Your Enthusiasm . The reunion made Jerry, George, Elaine, and Kramer hilariously relevant again.

MORE THAN MORMONS | January 06, 2010 Despite the comparably juicy family dysfunction it offers, Big Love hasn't achieved the iconic status of its HBO predecessor The Sopranos . Maybe viewers relate better to the mob than to Mormons.

VEGAS AND JUNGLELAND | November 24, 2009 Paul Shaffer is a happenin’ cat. Pick an It Moment from pop culture over the past 30 years and Shaffer was there. He was an original band member on Saturday Night Live . He played hapless promo guy Artie Fufkin in This Is Spinal Tap . Disco? He co-wrote “It’s Raining Men.” And he helped David Letterman break ground as his glittery, ironic bandleader/sidekick.

THE THRILLER IS GONE | June 30, 2009 With the release of Bad (Epic), Michael Jackson ends a recording hiatus of nearly five years. He could have stayed away for 10 years and still not have escaped the shadow of Thriller , the biggest-selling album of all time.